Kenyan Pupil Wins International Flower Sleeve Drawing Competition

A class six pupil at Oserian Primary School, Naivasha, has emerged the winner in a global flower sleeve drawing competition.

The 13 year-old Brian Maina shares the prize with a student in Switzerland for a drawing depicting the business chain of flowers under the Fair Trade standard that will be used as a flower sleeves design.

The competition was organized by Swiss Supermarket Coop and attracted more than 700 entries globally. Oserian Primary School entered 17 drawings.

A shy but happy Brian was overwhelmed when Oserian Development Company Director of Administration Kirimi Mpungu made the announcement a week ago at a School parade mounted to break the news to an ecstatic crowd of pupils and staff from the flower farm.

The public primary school is among 14 educational institutions supported by Oserian as part of the giant flower exporter’s ‘Flori 4 Schools’ programme; a brand fashioned from Flowers for Schools.

Brian will be feted in September at a ceremony in Naivasha organized by the Farm and Coop, where the prize details will be given.

The drawing will be used on the flower sleeve that packages Fair Trade Flowers for the Supermarket in the European market from October 2016 with acknowledgement going back to the two winners.

Young Brian’s drawing captures the moment and his daily experiences on the Farm. His early understanding of aid through trade shines through in his depiction of the linkage between Flowers and commensurate support to his School. His vivid imagination captured flowers, wildlife, trees and hills as he sees them on the expansive flower farm as he walks to school daily.

He is aware that the Farm’s investment in flowers helps to give him and his fellow students the much needed support for School programmes. Brian’s drawing encapsulates the spirit of the Farm’s philosophy- Flori 4 for Life, under which 4 pillars have been created in support of Nature, Water, Schools and Farming.

Under the Flori4 Life brand, Oserian strives to depict how flowers create sustainability through pillars which help to eradicate poverty, disease and illiteracy, – Food Security, Water, Education and Conservation and resonate with Global Sustainable Development Goals.

Brian’s picturesque illustration centred on the environment, where Oserian’s forestry plants 1,000 trees weekly; an enviable feat; providing seedlings for afforestation and augmentation of scarce wood fuel stocks within communities which are heavily reliant on firewood.

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Tree seedlings are made available to surrounding communities from the Company nurseries to ensure sustainability. The flora and fauna allow the ecosystem to thrive undisturbed, creating opportunities for tourism and an aesthetically pleasing and healthy setting, linking environment and farming.

Brian loves art and the win has given him the motivation to keep drawing hoping to someday showcase his work on TV, he said. He was inspired by a local TV arts programme and looks forward to participating in it in the near future. He has many sketches to his name, among them that of former President Mwai Kibaki and other leaders.